Opening statement… “First of all, like I said Sunday evening, we are happy to get the home victory last Saturday. We are getting ready for South Carolina, who are coming off a very impressive road win in our league. When you look at them, they have six returning starters on offense and defense. Really what stands out to me about their defense is they are one of the top in the country in total defense, third in our league. I believe they are first in the league in third down defense so that’s going to present some challenges. You look at their offense — the running back Keven Harris runs extremely hard. The receiver Shi Smith is very electric and their quarterback Collin Hill, I’ve been very impressed with him. He’s a big guy with a really strong arm, a really solid team. We talk about our message being, “Let’s get a little bit better each week,” so that’s what will be on our mind. We are looking forward to going on the road, I don’t think we have been to South Carolina since 2011 — a traditionally tough place to play so our guys are going to have to be ready.”
On the play of the secondary… “We are getting (Jaylin) Simpson back, which I expect him to practice today. Jordyn Peters got knocked out of the game early to so that was an issue [against Arkansas]. We’ll see. We have our guys healthy; we do feel that we have quality depth. We need to disrupt the quarterback more, that will help them with that too, but hopefully we’ll get our guys back healthy this week.”
Status of Marco Domio… “We expect him to be out there at practice today, too. As a matter of fact, I expect all of our guys to be out there back at practice other than K.J. Britt, so we’ll see what means as far as how they progress during the week. It will be good just to have them back on the practice field.”
On South Carolina’s third-down defense… “They are very aggressive up front. They put pressure on quarterbacks, they disrupt quarterbacks and make them uncomfortable. They do a good job with their coverage and they don’t give you any easy throws; you have to earn it. It’s impressive to watch.”
About South Carolina’s physicality… “You look at their defense and they are 18th in the country and 3rd in the league. What stands out to me is their third-down defense. They get after the quarterback extremely well and they can play tight coverage.”
Familiarity of some of their staff who worked here with Auburn… “It’s been a while, like 2015. It’s been a while so we’ll see.”
Who are some guys who could step up in the defensive line rotation… “It’s really for all, not just the defensive line, it’s for offensive line, quarterbacks, defensive backs, just trying to get those younger guys, all of them up front, our new junior college players on the offensive line, to get them more reps. We have a couple freshmen up front on the offensive line and we feel like those need more reps, too, just getting those guys to go for depth. We still have seven SEC games. We have been very fortunate with COVID so far. So really the plan has been part of the process that we are playing, develop more depth and get our guys ready. You can see improvement, watching the film Sunday night — I think we went 16 plays or something — you could see a couple guys wanting to take that next step, specifically all the freshmen upfront and the two junior college players.
How healthy is your team… “We had a Sunday practice geared towards our young guys, and we’ll have our main base down practice day today and we are hopeful that we have everyone out there, other than K.J. Britt to be in some sort of practice mode today. We will see how that goes after today and tomorrow.”
Any memories of the games with South Carolina during the 2010 national championship year… “At home, it was an extremely tough game and we ended up winning it close. We got a chance to play them again; any time you play a team the second time the same year, that’s always a challenge. As a team, we continued to get better throughout the year. We were playing our best ball in the SEC Championship and of course we won that game, and the rest is history.”
On walk-on Barton Lester and his first touchdown… “Oh, it means a lot. Of course, I was a walk-on, same way he was. But you know, what’s really stood out to me about him is just, he does anything we ask him to do, whether it’s special teams, scout team, defense — and he’s got a skill set, too — he was banged up earlier in the year and came through. So he’s a guy that really can help us moving forward on special teams. So we’re really pleased with Lester right now.”
On Colby Wooden… “First of all, it’s very important to him. He’s a high character guy, and he’s really worked extremely hard, and he’s starting to play Auburn Tiger football with the toughness, attitude, and everything that goes with it. I think you’ll see a guy that will continue to improve throughout the season.”
On the slow start this season in the red zone… “Chad (Morris) is learning a lot about his guys. He’s got three games under his belt. Just like anything else, I think the offense will have an opportunity to improve each week, not just in the red zone, but third down and first down and all that. That’s the goal. You look at last week, Austin Troxell got banged up in practice and wasn’t able to play. Brodarious (Hamm) didn’t get a lot of reps; we weren’t sure if he was going to be able to play or not. We had (Brandon) Council that started at left guard one game, right guard another game. He started at right tackle. I really believe that getting five guys healthy, which I really believe we’ll be healthier and getting those five guys set, I think that helps everything. And not just red zone and all that. We didn’t have the same five guys — now it’s kind of been mix and match — but I think we’re at the point now where we have the chance to be healthier. And I think you’ll see a real improvement.”
On the younger linebackers playing a bigger role… “Zakoby (McClain) and Owen (Pappoe), they’re two of the best in our league. They played really well the other night. We’re working extremely hard to get those young guys ready. Last week was super for them. They got more reps — so each week, just getting more comfortable with our system, familiar with things — but we do feel like those guys are talented. You saw them play a whole lot of special teams last week. Those linebackers got a chance to help on special teams. There’s nothing like getting out there, even if it’s not the defensive snaps. Getting those reps on special teams helps, too. So you’ll continue to see those guys develop, and I think you’ll see them on the field more and more as the season goes on.”
Importance of using the tight ends in the passing game… “I think that’s a part of developing the offense and expanding it more. Keep in mind that we weren’t able to go through spring. I just told you about the offensive line issues and personnel as far as trying to get the five guys (together). I do know this, early on in the season we’ve really worked hard to get the ball to Flash (Anthony Schwartz). We felt like after looking at last season he needed more touches, so I think that’s a real positive. You could see him, and he’s really starting to come on, and then you look at Seth (Williams) and we think Seth has a chance to be one of the best receivers in the league—also trying to get him involved. So, what you’ll see is it’ll be a process and you’ll see more and more guys get the ball that a lot of the time if they single (coverage) those guys we’re going to keep throwing it to them. If they do a little extra, we will use our common sense and start getting it to other guys. I think with both of those factors, you’ll see more and more touches for other guys throughout the next seven games.”
How will Austin Troxell’s return impact the offensive line rotation… “First of all, Troxell is really coming on. He was in a real good position before get banged up on Wednesday. So (Brandon) Council hadn’t played any reps at right tackle, so from Wednesday late in practice to Thursday, those were the reps he got. Of course Brodarious (Hamm) was able to go and that really helped and we played K.J. and Tashawn (Manning) at guard along with Council, too. That ability to have a week of practice with five guys in the best positions they can be — you start working on that continuity, and that’s so critical.”
On J.J. Pegues and his athleticism… “You know, I haven’t (seen a big man like that). Of course, I haven’t coached that many 300-pount skill guys either. He’s got a special skill set and we knew that when we recruited him. He’s a very good basketball player, too, and his high school team would put him out at wide receiver and play him at wildcat. He’s a very versatile guy and I think you could see his role expand throughout the season.”
On putting more pressure on the quarterback… “Like I said, that’s week to week finding different ways to do that. You’ve got to keep in mind that now we’ve got three weeks under our belt of what we have and what we need to work on. That’ll be a big part of this week, at least trying to disrupt the quarterback. We will work extremely hard on that this week.”
On guys who might be able to help in the pass rush… “I think, more than anything, just developing some guys and getting them more opportunities. The same thing up front. We’ve had the COVID issues, some different injuries that have kind of pushed back some of the development that normally would be more accelerated, so they’ve had some of the same issues as the offensive line. I really feel like that group, each week, will improve, too. You heard me saying this the last two weeks — our goal is to get a little better each week and if we do that we think we’ll have a chance to be in the mix at the end. There’s not going to be a whole lot of teams that improve, especially under these unusual circumstances this year.”
On the importance of Zakoby McClain…“He’s a big-time linebacker. He’s got a great nose for the ball. He can defeat blocks, he’s got great effort and can play sideline-to-sideline. It’s just a matter of him getting more reps, I think, and the better he’ll get. We’re in great shape with him and Owen (Pappoe). You’ll see those guys continue to improve. Both of them, like I said, they got the helmet sticker on defense because they were all over the field and made plays, defeated blocks. It was good to watch.”
What type of player is McClain to coach…“He’s a super human being. He’s got a great heart. He’s got a great spirit about him. He loves football. He is a football player with a capital ‘F’. He loves the physicality. He’s an Auburn football player. He’s tough. So, he’s a lot of fun to coach.”
What has impressed him the most about Tank Bisgby…“What has impressed me is just his physicality and determination. He’s still learning the plays. He is still learning the schemes and the steps and everything that goes with it. But one thing he’s doing is he’s bringing the wood. He’s running angry with great physicality and with great effort. He’s really doing a good job in kick returns, too. We’re throwing him in the fire. He’s a true freshman; he didn’t get to go through spring. We’ve had (Shaun Shivers) banged up, D.J. (Williams) banged up, so he had an opportunity and he seized that opportunity. I really think you’ll see, after the game slows down a little bit and he actually can read things and slow himself down, I think the sky is the limit.”
Why is Bigsby having success so early in his career…“I think it’s his approach. He loves the game of football. He loves playing football. He’s got confidence. He’s got a great positive spirit about him and he has that edge. You see him running it, and he’s got the potential to really keep going. That’s what is exciting for me.”
On South Carolina QB Collin Hill and South Carolina’s offensive scheme under Mike Bobo…
“Of course, Mike (Bobo) was at Georgia a long time and we faced him. He’s a really good, sound football coach. He goes to Colorado State and I really feel like they even expanded some things from what he did at Georgia. Now he’s kind of got a combination of both, but they’re sound. He uses formations. I think he does a good job scheming up the run game. I’ve said before, in this league, you’ve got to be able to run it and throw it. You look at his grad transfer quarterback; you can tell he’s been with him. He’s comfortable. Like I said, he’s a big guy that has a big arm. He kind of knows what to expect. I think that, especially in a year like this, an experienced quarterback that’s been with his coach before, I think those teams have an advantage over some.”
On getting young wide receivers like Ze’Vian Capers, Kobe Hudson and Ja’Varrius Johnson reps in game…“The more reps that those guys get, the better they’re going to be. We think they’re very talented. I think those guys have done some good things so far. They practice extremely well. I think that’s a hungry group that, really, the moment is not going to be too big when they start playing more. It’s just a matter of time. I think their development is going really well right now.”
